Section 3A 2022-23

[ClassAGuy]

2022-23 Section 3A Preseason Preview

The claim that southwestern Minnesota isn’t a hockey hotbed doesn’t surprise anyone. The area is known more for basketball powerhouses than its hockey programs; most teams in the area often have to travel huge distances just to schedule games. Kind of an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality if you will and they are the most forgotten and most disregarded part of the State in terms of hockey. Section 3A did get a much needed makeover with section realignment two spring ago as more geographic appropriate teams Mankato East & West and Minnesota River were added. Mankato East took advantage of their new sectional and breezed through the Section 3A Playoffs outscoring opponents 20-1. Does anyone have the talent or depth to pose a more of a threat this winter crosstown rival Mankato West and traditional 3A powers New Ulm and Luverne will look to give the Cougars more competition this winter in their quest to repeat as Section 3A Champions.

Section 3A Preseason Poll (10 Teams)
1- Mankato East
2- New Ulm
3- Luverne
4- Mankato West
5- Marshall
6- Windom
7- Minnesota River
8- Fairmont
9- Worthington
10- Redwood Valley

#1 Mankato East- The Cougars look to be favorites again in Section 3A and look to return to State for the 4th time in the last 7 years. They do return a good chunk of their scoring as leading scoring defenseman Seniors Shea Gavin & Alexander Morgan lead a good group of defenders. Up front they return Seniors Andrew Bastian & Brayden Borgmeier along with Juniors Christian Theuninck & Rafe Bowman to have a nice core to build around. They will also get Senior Zach Lebens & Junior Owen Quist back who are two of their better players that both missed last season due to injuries. The big question mark will be in the net but this looks to be the team to represent 3A again at the Xcel in March.

#2 New Ulm- The Eagles found a formula for great success last year by beating all the Section 3A teams they played twice as they were not afforded the opportunity to play either Mankato school but they went undefeated against the rest. Beating up the rest of 3A was enough to get them the number one seed but once they went toe to toe with Mankato East they were blown out 6-0 in the 3A Final. This winter they return forward Junior Austin Uecker who had over 20 goals and defender Senior Jack Albrecht to build another solid group around. If the Eagles just beat up on the Big South Conference again like previous years they will be top 3 seed and a contender in 3A.

#3 Luverne- Is Roll Cards Roll ready to return to the big stage this winter? Well, Luverne will bring back its entire core high scorers led by Senior Brock Behrend along with Juniors Patrick Kroski & Owen Sudenga and they return talented young defender Sophomore Blaik Bork to lead the blueline group. They also return their starting goalie from a 15 win team a year ago and look for them to make some serious noise again in the Southwest part of the State and build off their Semi-final appearance from a year ago.

#4 Mankato West- The Scarlets were better than their record indicated last year but their poor play early set up a first round match up in the 3A Quarterfinals with Mankato East which put a quick end to their season. They should be much improved this winter as they return Junior Gage Schmidt and Senior Zach Benson up front. On the back end they will be led by youth as stellar Sophomore Jaeger Zimmerman is back after a great freshman year and speaking of 9th grader Mankato West will look to turn to one as Freshman Mason Schrieber looks to be the starter in net.

#5 Marshall- The Tigers had a very up and down season last winter that ended by getting blown out on their home ice in the 3A Quarterfinals. They will look to improve on that this winter as they return 16 letter winners led by forwards Seniors Sean Nwaiga & Zach Kramer to provide offensive upfront and defender Junior Talen Plante returns and has been the Tigers best overall player the last two winters. They do return both starting goalies but they will need to get more consistency but look for the Tigers to be battling for a top 4 seed in 3A again this winter.

#6 Windom- The Eagles had a historic winter last year as they went to the program's first ever Section Semifinal and pushed New Ulm to the brink in a very good game. They did lose pieces to graduation from that group but they do return leading scorer Senior Brady Espenson along with some other depth but finding a goalie will be key if Windom wants to continue to make more history this winter.

#7 Minnesota River- The Bulldogs will look to improve a tough 5 win season last winter but things are looking up as they do return 15 letter winners. Junior Drew Simonette returns as the leading scorer a year ago with a host of others with experience. Finding a goalie will be the key to see if Minnesota River can make a jump in 3A.

#8 Fairmont- The Cardinals will look to continue to build off a decent season a year ago. They do return some depth and they will look for Seniors Brock Lutterman & Nate Rakness to have good seasons again in the scoring department and they do return their starting goalie Junior Carson Johnson in net.

#9 Worthington- The Trojans were hit very hard by graduation losing 9 seniors to graduation including their top five scorers and both starting goalies. They will look to build around defenseman Junior Ian Bumgarden as they go through a rebuilding year.

#10 Redwood Valley- Things are looking up for the Cardinals a year after only winning two games. They return 11 letter winners including leading scorer Sophomore Kilen Cliek as they look to be more competitive this winter.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (11/27/22)
1- Mankato East (0-2-0)
2- New Ulm (0-0-0)
3- Luverne (0-0-0)
4- Mankato West (0-0-0)
5- Marshall (0-2-0)
6- Windom (0-0-0)
7- Minnesota River (1-0-0)
8- Fairmont (0-0-0)
9- Worthington (0-0-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-1-0)

Section 3A Outlook- Mankato East did their normal AA metro Thanksgiving Tournament and started 0-2 but again this prepares them more for the 3A Playoffs. Marshall had a rough opener in their Thanksgiving Tournament going 0-2. Minnesota River picked up a nice one goal win over Faribault to start their year. Redwood Valley dropped a tough opener to Waseca in a game they led through the 2nd period. All other 3A teams were idle in week #1.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Scores Tuesday (11/29/22)
Luverne 5 Marshall 3

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Scores Thursday (12/1)
New Ulm 4 Marshall 1
Windom 5 Austin 4
Waseca 6 Fairmont 5
Mankato West 4 Minnesota River 1

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Scores Friday (12/2)
Two Rivers 2 Luverne 2
New Ulm 12 Worthington 0
Rochester Century 5 Mankato East 2

Section 3A Scores Saturday (12/3)
Two Rivers 9 Windom 2
Luverne 11 Waseca 1

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (12/4/22)
1- Mankato East (0-3-0)
2- New Ulm (2-0-0)
3- Luverne (2-0-1)
4- Mankato West (1-0-0)
5- Marshall (0-4-0)
6- Windom (1-1-0)
7- Minnesota River (1-1-0)
8- Fairmont (0-1-0)
9- Worthington (0-1-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-1-0)

Section 3A Outlook- Mankato East lost to AA Century to drop to (0-3). New Ulm continued its Big South domination, beating Worthington. Luverne started hot and beat Marshall. Mankato West knocked off Minnesota River. Windom started the year .500 and Fairmont, Worthington, & Redwood Valley all are still looking for their first win of the young season.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #3 Schedule

Monday, December 5
Windom 4 Marshall 3

Tuesday, December 6
Faribault at Fairmont
Mankato East at Owatonna
Minnesota River at Hutchsinson
New Ulm at Redwood Valley
Waseca at Worthington

Thursday, December 8
Austin at Mankato East
Marshall at Redwood Valley
Windom at Waseca
Fairmont at New Ulm

Friday, December 9
Luverne at New Ulm

Saturday, December 10
Winona at Mankato West
Fairmont at La Crescent
Minnesota RIver at Worthington
Becker Big Lake at Windom

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #3 Scores

Monday, December 5
Windom 4 Marshall 3

Tuesday, December 6
Faribault 7 Fairmont 4
Owatonna 2 Mankato East 1 OT
Hutchsinson 3 Minnesota River 1
New Ulm 10 Redwood Valley 1
Waseca 9 Worthington 4

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #3 Scores

Thursday, December 8
Mankato East 8 Austin 2
Mankato West 2 Rochester John Marshall 2 OT
Marshall 6 Redwood Valley 1
Waseca 4 Windom 0
New Ulm 11 Fairmont 2

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #3 Scores

Friday, December 9
New Ulm 2 Luverne 1

Saturday, December 10
Mankato West 5 Winona 3
La Crescent 9 Fairmont 2
Minnesota RIver 6 Worthington 1
Becker Big Lake 6 Windom 2

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (12/11/22)
1- New Ulm (5-0-0)
2- Mankato East (1-4-0)
3- Luverne (2-1-1)
4- Mankato West (2-0-1)
5- Windom (2-3-0)
6- Marshall (1-5-0)
7- Minnesota River (2-2-0)
8- Fairmont (0-4-0)
9- Worthington (0-3-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-3-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm continued its Big South domination, beating Luverne for a very big Section 3A win. Mankato East and Mankato West both picked up wins this week in the Big 9. Windom picked up a big 3A win over Marshall. Minnesota River picked up a 3A win over Worthington who along with Fairmont and Redwood Valley all are still looking for their first win of the young season.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #4 Scores

Monday December 12
Mankato East 5 Mound Westonka 0

Tuesday, December 13
New Ulm 12 Waseca 1
Mankato West 6 Austin 2

Friday, December 16
Rochester Century 6 Mankato West 0
Dodge County 6 Minnesota River 3

Saturday, December 17
Luverne 8 Rochester Lourdes 0
Willmar 5 Redwood Valley 2
Mankato East 5 Rochester John Marshall 1
Apple Valley/Burnsville 5 Mankato West 0

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (12/18/22)
1- New Ulm (6-0-0)
2- Mankato East (3-4-0)
3- Luverne (3-1-1)
4- Mankato West (3-2-1)
5- Windom (2-3-0)
6- Marshall (1-5-0)
7- Minnesota River (2-3-0)
8- Fairmont (0-4-0)
9- Worthington (0-3-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-5-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm continued its Big South domination. Mankato East has now won 3 in a row. Meanwhile, Mankato West picked up its first two losses. Luverne blew out Rochester Lourdes on the road. Minnesota River lost to Dodge County and Redwood Valley lost to Willmar. Worthington, Fairmont, Windom & Marshall all had their games knocked out due to MN weather.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #5 Scores

Tuesday, December 20
Windom 7 Fairmont 1
New Ulm 2 Hutchinson 1
Mankato East 8 Minnesota River 3
Worthington 5 Redwood Valley 4
Marshall 8 Willmar 4

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (12/25/22)
1- New Ulm (7-0-0)
2- Mankato East (4-4-0)
3- Luverne (3-1-1)
4- Mankato West (3-2-1)
5- Windom (3-3-0)
6- Marshall (2-5-0)
7- Minnesota River (2-4-0)
8- Worthington (1-3-0)
9- Fairmont (0-5-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-6-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm picked a big win outside of Conference action vs Hutchinson. Mankato East picked up an easy Section 3A win over Minnesota River. Meanwhile, Windom knocked off Fairmont for another Section 3A win. Worhtington beat Redwood Valley in a close 3A matchup. Marshall beat up Willmar in a non Section 3A game. Mankato West & Luverne both had their games knocked out due to MN weather.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #6 Scores

Monday December 26, 2022
Marshall 3 Southwest Christian 3

Tuesday December 27
Marshall 5 Beckenridge/Wahpeton 0
Roseau 7 Mankato East 2
Mankato West 5 Anoka 0
Morris Benson 11 Redwood Valley 1
New Ulm 3 Fergus Falls 3

Wednesday December 28
Two RIvers 5 Marshall 0
Minot 4 Mankato East 3 T
Cloquet 6 Mankato West 3
Prairie Centre 8 Redwood Valley 3
Detroit Lakes 3 New Um 2
Luverne 6 Rochester Lourdes 1
Dodge County 7 Windom 5
Baldwin-Woodville 7 Fairmont 3

Thursday December 29
Alexandria 4 Mankato east 2
Irondale 2 Mankato West 1 OT
New Um 4 Fort Frances 2
Dodge County 5 Luverne 1
Albert Lea 5 Windom 3
Fairmont 4 Mora/Milaca 3

Friday December 30
Albert Lea 6 Luverne 3
Rochester Lourdes 6 Windom 5

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (1/1/23)
1- New Ulm (8-1-1)
2- Mankato East (4-7-0)
3- Luverne (4-3-1)
4- Mankato West (4-4-1)
5- Windom (3-6-0)
6- Marshall (3-6-1)
7- Minnesota River (2-4-0)
8- Worthington (1-3-0)
9- Fairmont (1-6-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-8-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm had a great showing up in Fergus Falls to cement their top ranking in 3A for now. Mankato East & Mankato West went north as well over the Holidays and the Cougars went winless while the Scarlets won once. Luverne & Windom both struggled at the Kiwanis Tournament in Rochester. Marshall took 6th place at the Herb Brooks Classic but did go (1-1-1) overall. Meanwhile, Fairmont picked up its first win of the year over Mora/Milaca. Redwood Valley continues to struggle. Worthington & Minnesota River took the Holiday Break off and were idle.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #7 Scores

Thursday January 5
Fairmont 10 Worthington 4
Windom 6 Redwood Valley 1
Minnesota River 8 Waseca 4
Faribault 4 Mankato West 1
New Ulm 4 Marshall 3

Friday January 6
St Cloud Cathedral 6 Mankato East 0
New Prague 6 Mankato West 3

Saturday January 7
St Cloud Cathedral 5 Mankato East 2
Fairmont 6 Redwood Valley 2
Morris Benson 4 Luverne 3
Waseca 7 Worthington 5
New Ulm 7 Minnesota River 1
Rochester John Marshall 6 Marshall 4

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (1/8/23)
1- New Ulm (10-1-1)
2- Mankato East (4-9-0)
3- Mankato West (4-6-1)
4- Luverne (4-4-1)
5- Windom (4-6-0)
6- Marshall (3-6-1)
7- Minnesota River (3-5-0)
8- Fairmont (3-6-0)
9- Worthington (1-5-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-10-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm picked up two Section 3A wins over Marshall & Minnesota River. Mankato East got swept by St Cloud Cathedral and Mankato West lost to New Prague. Luverne lost a very bad game to Morris.Benson in non section action. Windom got a Section 3A win over Redwood Valley. Fairmont had a very good week as they picked up Section 3A wins over the Cardinals and Worthington.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #8 Scores

Monday January
Luverne 8 Worthington 1
Marshall 6 Windom 3
Minnesota River 2 Redwood Valley 1

Tuesday January 10
Rochester Mayo 6 Mankato East 3
Fairmont 6 Minnesota River 5
Mankato West 5 Winona 2
New Ulm 9 Worthington 0

Thursday January 12
Marshall 4 Fairmont 1
Luverne 7 Redwood Valley 0
Albert Lea 3 Mankato West 2 OT
Windom 5 Minnesota River 4 OT

Friday January 13
Mankato East 5 Mankato West 2

Saturday January 14
Waseca 5 Luverne 4
Minnesota River 7 Worthington 1
Rochester Lourdes 3 Windom 2 OT

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A PageStat Rankings (1/11/22)
1 NEW ULM
2 MANKATO EAST
3 MANKATO WEST
4 LUVERNE
5 MARSHALL
6 MINNESOTA RIVER
7 WINDOM
8 FAIRMONT
9 REDWOOD VALLEY
10 WORTHINGTON

This is how I think 1-5 will end up being seeded in the end. Luverne if they can go unbeaten and beat everyone twice against seeds 5-10 might get a bump into the 2 or 3 seed because the Mankato's don't schedule anyone but MN River and in coaches vote that could carry water. 6-10 are off due to head to heads but more games need to be played to sort it out.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Rankings (1/15/23)
1- New Ulm (11-1-1)
2- Mankato East (5-10-0)
3- Mankato West (5-8-1)
4- Luverne (6-5-1)
5- Marshall (5-6-1)
6- Windom (5-8-0)
7- Fairmont (4-7-0)
8- Minnesota River (5-7-0)
9- Worthington (1-8-0)
10- Redwood Valley (0-12-0)

Section 3A Outlook- New Ulm picked up a Section 3A win over Worthington. Mankato East got the big head to head win over Mankato West. Luverne beat 3A Redwood Valley and the Trojans. Marshall got the big 2nd win over 3A Windom. Fairmont had a very good 3A head to head win over Minnesota River.

[elliott70]

I think New Ulm fans can book rooms in St Paul.
Barring injuries.
They can go in with Warroad and Hermantown and get a group discount.

[ClassAGuy]

I think New Ulm fans can book rooms in St Paul.
Barring injuries.
They can go in with Warroad and Hermantown and get a group discount.

Dont count out Mankato East.... I will not be shocked to see the Cougars with a well below .500 record in St Paul instead.

New Ulm has the challenge of trying to maintain a good level of compete while playing a super soft Big South Conference Schedule. Bad habits pile up while you rout teams 8-0 or 9-0 every night and are not pushed. The Eagles will have to work hard in their practices to stay sharp. Last year Mankato East playing a tough schedule came into sections and blew away teams .... I like New Ulm they showed up in Fergus Falls they can play! However, the lack of tough games down the stretch could haunt them in a tight sectionFinal game with the Cougars.

[ClassAGuy]

Section 3A Week #9 Scores

Monday January 16
Minnesota River 5 Mound Westonka 3
Luverne 7 Fairmont 1

Tuesday January 17
Marshall 9 Redwood Valley 0
Luverne 4 Albert Lea 2
New Ulm 7 Minnesota River 2
Austin 5 Worthington 1

Thursday January 19
Northfield 6 Mankato West 0
New Ulm 9 Redwood Valley 0

Friday January 20
Windom 6 Waseca 3
Minnesota River 8 Redwood Valley 0
Morris Benson 7 Fairmont 1

Saturday January 21
Morris/Benson Area 9 Fairmont 2
Windom 10 Worthington 1
Luverne 9 Dodge County 1
Southwest Christian 3 New Ulm 1
Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 5 Minnesota River 2